Announcements

JOURNAL OF MORMON POLYGAMY

Official Statement

The Journal of Mormon Polygamy wishes to clarify a recent and public misrepresentation regarding one of our invited conference presenters.

A highly respected female scholar was formally invited to present at our March 20-21, 2026 conference. As a conference board, we were deeply pleased when she accepted the invitation, an acceptance that she confirmed multiple times in writing throughout repeated communications with the Journal’s cofounders, Cheryl L. Bruno and Michelle Brady Stone. Her acceptance was clear and made in good faith. Before publishing our list of speakers, which included her name, we sent it to her and she enthusiastically approved. Accordingly, the Journal released our publicity flyer with her name included on December 16.

Within half an hour of the initial post, BYU Assistant Professor Christopher J. Blythe publicly claimed that he had heard from this scholar personally, that she had “declined the invite,” and that the Journal had falsely represented her participation.

This claim was inaccurate.

We have since learned from multiple sources that Dr. Blythe had not communicated with the scholar herself, but with her husband, who at the time was out of the country and unaware that she had accepted our invitation. Dr. Blythe impugned the conference to the husband, claiming it would be “dangerous” to participate. The husband, not the scholar herself, encouraged Dr. Blythe to circulate the claim that she had declined. We can only assume that as a result of this interference and pressure, the scholar withdrew from the conference, sending a brief email to one of the conference organizers near midnight.

To be clear:

  • The scholar enthusiastically accepted our invitation.

  • The Journal did not misrepresent her participation.

  • Her subsequent withdrawal occurred only after external interference.

We are therefore correcting our conference materials to reflect her withdrawal, while also correcting the public record regarding the circumstances that led to it.

This incident is not isolated. It reflects an ongoing pattern in which Professor Blythe has publicly attempted to undermine the Journal of Mormon Polygamy by mischaracterizing its academic standards, its contributors, and its professional conduct. The Journal is a peer-reviewed publication with a scholarly conference, and we categorically reject efforts to discredit it through misinformation and intimidation.

The Journal decries this kind of unprofessional behavior and interference. We call on Professor Blythe to cease misrepresenting the Journal, to refrain from interfering with invited participants, and to discontinue this pattern of harassment.

The Journal of Mormon Polygamy remains committed to rigorous scholarship, open inquiry, and respectful academic exchange, even—and especially—when perspectives differ.